Muralitharan first Sri Lankan in ICC Hall of Fame

Former Sri Lanka offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan has become the first player from his country to be voted into the ICC Hall of Fame. He will be formally inducted into it later this year, along with the late England fast bowler George Lohman, the late Australia opener Arthur Morris and former Australia Women captain Karen Rolton.

Murali is the leading wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs, and one of only two players to tally over a 1000 wickets in international cricket, in a career that spanned 19 years, from 1992 to 2011.

Lohmann, who played in the 1880s and 1890s, became the fastest bowler to 100 Test wickets when he got to the landmark in March 1896, in his 16th match, and the record has stood for the 120 years since. Morris was part of the “Invincibles” in the Ashes of 1948, where he aggregated 696 runs at 87, outscoring Don Bradman.

The highlights of Rolton’s international career, which lasted from 1995 to 2009, included a knock of 209 not out at Headingley in 2001 – then the highest score in Women’s Test cricket – and a century in the World Cup final of 2005. She was named captain in 2006.

ICC chief executive David Richardson said he was pleased that the list of latest inductees featured players from such a wide-ranging time span. “We have in the list some very famous names of different eras,” Richardson said. “Muralitharan has been one of the greats of the modern era. Lohmann and Morris were outstanding performers during their times and are part of cricket folklore, while Rolton’s performances have been recent and came during an era when women’s cricket became very competitive.”